Flourless Banana Pancakes (SCD & GFCF)

These pancakes are really simple and easy to make, requiring only fresh, ripe bananas and eggs. Making these pancakes for the first time may not be perfect: as the batter doesn’t really have anything to bind to, like pancakes that use a kind of flour, sometimes it can be a bit messy but either way they taste delicious all the time. Due to this sometimes messy nature, it did take more than one try to get the pancakes perfect for the photo shoot (above). Regarding amount, a general rule of thumb is to use half the amount of eggs as bananas, i.e. 12 bananas and 6 eggs, or 9 bananas and 5 eggs. For servings, generally a batter made of 4 bananas and 2 eggs will make 8 to 16 pancakes, depending on size of pancakes, serving at least 4 people (4 pancakes per person and also depending on appetite). In addition to being a good breakfast food, these pancakes also make a great snack hot or cold!

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
1 egg
Virgin or extra virgin coconut oil, for frying

Method

Heat pan over medium heat, add coconut oil (about 1 or 2 tablespoons). Peel and mash bananas by hand with a fork. Transfer to a bowl and mix in eggs, also by hand.

When you can smell the coconut oil, test the heat by adding a drip of batter or water in the pan. If it sizzles, add a small amount of batter for each pancake. (You may add the batter before this stage, however it’s better to cook the pancakes in this way when the pan is this hot.) Make sure the edges of the pancake are firm before attempting to flip, and carefully slide the flipper underneath and flip. Pancake colour will gradually golden as the pan becomes hotter, so the first pancakes may be lighter in colour than later ones. This is fine. As you continue to cook the pancakes, you may turn down the heat a little. Be sure to add more coconut oil if necessary, a little at a time; if there is excess grease, pat the pancakes with paper towel, or rest on a plate with paper towel and flip on to either side accordingly.

Once all the pancakes are done, turn off heat and remove pan from element. Serve and enjoy!

I just made these this morning with a slight variation – I used a little bit of ghee instead of coconut oil. My kids loved them as did I. However I had very hard time flipping them without breaking them and finally I ended up making super mini pancakes in order to keep them circular. Any tips on better flipping? I anticipate making a lot more of these since my family is getting ready to go SCD. Appreciate any other recipe/blog pointers to similar SCD recipes. Thanks very much for this post.

Hi Minoti – what I do to make an easier time flipping the banana pancakes is to make sure that the pan is hot enough that a small amount of batter, such as a drop, or water, sizzles immediately upon contact, whereas if the batter is poured in while the pan is heating, it’s harder to flip. When the top of the pancake is just set but still wet, then I flip it by carefully sliding, something prying and fiddling, under the pancake. Sometimes the pancake does break when it’s flipped or doesn’t flip easily. The other thing is that sometimes the flipper gets caked. I will be doing a video to better demonstrate this soon. Thank you for your interest and I wish you and your family great success on the SCD! 🙂 I also have made apple pancakes similar to these that use grated apple.

Update: I’ve made a video and posted a photo tutorial for flipping flourless pancakes, focusing on these banana ones!

Hi Evelyn, I have this same problem sometimes, though I find with practice that it becomes easier to flip without sticking to the flipper. Generally, I find that they’re ready to flip when the edges and tops are starting to look dry. If you also pour in the batter when the pan’s hot, they’re less likely to stick. 🙂 Whatever the case, they do taste good!

I’m an SCD-er as well and this is my second-favorite recipe. Because I get frustrated with flipping, I developed the habit of scrambling them. 🙂 Tastes like pancakes, in scrambled form. I call it “Banana Scrambles” and I use a 3 eggs to 1 banana ratio, no honey (I’m used to low carb living), and a good heap of cinnamon. I use coconut oil in the pan. And my kitchen “weapon” of choice is actually the potato masher. LOL I just break up the banana and kinda whisk/mash it with the potato masher until it is in very small bits – only takes about 2 minutes and dirties only 1 bowl. Toss it in the hot skillet, scramble, done! I’m thinking about doing a baked “banana bread” thingy with similar ingredients but baked in the oven.